Jennifer said, ‘Saskia got him, alright.’
A group of technicians entered the control room. Ignoring Jennifer and David, they inspected the consoles and called abbreviated instructions. Syncomp is green. Y-vib is off-the-scale low. David watched without comment as Jennifer tried to explain herself to a stern, suited gentleman.
‘I think,’ interrupted the man, ‘you should talk to Ms Castle.’
David and Jennifer sat at the narrow end of a conference table. Rembrandt’s The Philosopher in Meditation hung behind them. David was tired. He lacked the energy for lies. Half-thinking, he took his daughter’s hand, and waited for the third occupant of the room to speak.
‘Let me summarise,’ Castle said. She was a sharp, professional woman in her early sixties. ‘Jennifer, you used government resources without permission, created an Einstein-Rosen bridge without presidential authority, and aided the illegal entry of two other persons into a secure government property. Professor Proctor, you entered both this country and this property illegally. Those need to be dealt with first. In good time, I would also like to discover the whereabouts of John Hartfield and Saskia Brandt.’
‘Look,’ said David, ‘I could answer most of your questions if you just let me talk. May I?’
Castle sipped her tea, no milk, and raised her eyebrows. ‘You have half an hour.’
Jennifer looked on as David extracted Ego from his wallet. ‘This is my personal computer. Ego, switch to presentation mode, please. I would like you illustrate my story with pictures as you see fit, and audio and video where possible.’ He turned to the women. ‘My personal computer has been recording every step of my journey. It is equipped with iWitness software. The British police use it. It is tamperproof.’
‘I’m aware of that, Professor,’ said Castle. ‘Tell your story. This is a modern facility. It will accept communications from your computer.’
‘Very well. Ego, dim the lights. Thank you. Show Talbert Grove. This, Ms Castle, is where our story begins. The house on fire is mine.’
Half an hour later, Jennifer was chewing her hair. Castle would surely make a decision about their future based on her father’s testimony. She stole a glance at him. He smiled and concluded his story.
‘The time machine’s computer was hacked by my Ego unit just before we entered the cavern. Hartfield thought he was going back in time to save his own mind using the updated nanotreatment, but his insertion was altered to the precise point of the explosion. In other words, he became the cause.’
‘I see. You believe that Brandt carried out her mission after all. She sabotaged his time travelling at source. By all accounts an exceptional woman.’
‘Agreed,’ Jennifer said.
‘Your case would be aided by physical evidence, Professor. After all, even with a plausible story, we must fall back on the available facts: the computer is in your possession. You must accept responsibility for its actions. The 2014 Automaticity Act, I believe.’
David lifted a hand and let it fall. ‘Well, whatever. All I can do is provide you with the information I have.’
A new voice came from the conference speakers: ‘Excuse me. I am Ego, the personal computer involved. I am now authorised to tell you that, one year ago today, Saskia Brandt sent three hand-written copies of her testimony to legal firms in New York, London and Geneva. They are now available for your perusal.’
Castle smiled. ‘Perhaps we could also meet Ms Brandt.’
‘That will not be possible,’ Ego said.
There was a long silence. ‘Well,’ Castle said. ‘I have a meeting.’ She stood and collapsed her computer. David scooped Ego from the desk and dropped it in his wallet.
‘What happens?’ asked Jennifer.
‘For the time being, you’ll stay in guest quarters here. They are quite comfortable. I have to speak to the board about this. At the very least, we need to discuss future funding proposals, if Mr Hartfield’s absence proves to be permanent.’
‘I’ve no doubt,’ David said.
‘I will also need to speak to our legal team. However, I will advise the board that no charges be pressed. Professor, you will be expelled from the USA immediately. You will answer any charges in Britain. I will ask the board to provide legal representation for you. As a recipient of monies from the Hartfield foundation, I’m sure the board will agree that we share some responsibility for your present predicament. Dr Proctor, you will have your security clearance suspended. Again, I’m sure this will be temporary.’
Jennifer asked, ‘How temporary?’
‘Two months. Take a holiday. I hear the weather in Britain is awful.’
‘And my funding?’
‘Jennifer, you have invented a time machine. You’ll get your money.’
Castle shook their hands. ‘The guards will take you to your quarters. You can speak to nobody apart from each other. I’ll see you tomorrow. Oh, David?’
‘Yes, Ms Castle?’
‘Keep an eye on your wallet.’
MI5: Intelligence and Security Committee Special Report
Presented to Parliament by the Prime Minister by Command of His Majesty, January 2023
Appendix Four:
The Intelligence and Security Agencies may request the redaction of sensitive material in the Report that would damage their work, for example by revealing their targets, methods, sources or operational capabilities. The following statement has thus been redacted from the public version of the Report. The ISC finds that, while corroborating evidence exists for some claims within the statement (such as the identification of the accelerant used in the burning of 184 Tyndale Road, Oxford), the putative author SASKIA BRANDT is likely to be fictitious. Neither does the committee consider ‘time travel’ to be a credible explanation for the death of JOHN HARTFIELD, KBE.
The statement below was filed with Brélaz and Mächler, Geneva, on 29 September, 2022, and obtained by this department 30 September, 2023. It reads:
To whom it may concern:
You know me as Saskia Brandt. You, or someone you are associated with, have my friends David and Jennifer Proctor in custody. With this statement, I hereby accept responsibility for the murder of John Hartfield. I have no material evidence to offer in support of the claims herein. However, you will know by now that the Ego unit in David’s possession was able to decrypt this text, where no other machines could. I hope this establishes my bona fides. There are facts I must withhold for several reasons. However, where I can be clear, I will be so. I will describe recent events from my own perspective. My purpose is not personal exoneration—indeed, this document incriminates me—but the exoneration of my friends.
Before I continue, let me say this. There is a fundamental, human need for causation in action. It has been an unhelpful drive within myself throughout my life. For you to understand the events I will now describe, you should push this notion aside. The events have no true beginning, just as there is no true beginning for the ‘will to act’ in the human pre-motor cortex. Everything is circular. Nothing ends, or begins.
On 22 September of this year, I tracked Professor Bruce Shimoda to a Bristol hotel room, where he intended to make good on a promise of suicide made to himself as a younger man. He had become, by his own interpretation, a weak and dependent individual. I made entry into the hotel room. After a short struggle, we talked. I told him the complete version of the abbreviated story I am now telling you. And I told him he could live again. He told me about his nightmares of children with no eyes. By dawn, we were en route to Scotland. In West Lothian, I helped him infiltrate the ruined research centre and connect his mind to the virtual reality known as Onogoro. Autonomous systems monitoring the Centre sent an alert to the Home Office. That evening, a team was assembled under the command of Colonel Harrison McWhirter and dispatched to West Lothian.